Some of you may have seen my previous article regarding criteria for rating skins Link . In it I talk about what I like to see in a good wallpaper or skin. It occurs to me that it’s not very nice to talk about swooning over the various downloadable (and free!) goodies that WinCustomize has to offer without sharing a few of my personal choices. Here they are: Skins: “Skinartistry” by, well, Skinartistry – just love this one. Running it right now in fact!: Link don5318’s “Winter Bl...

Recently I got a job at Stardock. You’ll note I’m a moderator on this site, but only because I need to have access to post things on a regular basis. I’m new to the whole WinCustomize community and to the concept of skinning. I’m actually lucky I am able to turn on my computer and get on the Internet at all – I’m the opposite of a “power user”. I’m not sure the term “newbie” even applies to me, as someone had to put their hand over mine on the mouse and do all the clicking to get me here in th...

I'm always looking for new stuff, and I like to hear what other people like. Here are some of my favorites. Let me know what some of yours are!!     Wallpaper Lost In Myself II by Cyberworld underworld by faisal   Digital Communication by MexZC   As usual I couldn't decide even on just 2 walls. Here are 3, all very different.       Cursors Roses are red...

Similar to the days of ancient Rome when the main sport was watching lions eat Christians, WinCustomize has it's own bloody coliseum called " Screenshots ". This is a brutal and diabolical gallery where users fight to the death to attain the coveted status of premier skinner, and the losers are thrown to the dogs like yesterdays garbage. Surviving the gladiatorial sporting-ground of screenshots is the realm of only a handful of ultra talented warrior-artists, and even posting a screenshot re...

Yesterday's article was a long, pedantic drone about installing the WindowBlinds program and downloading and installing skins for your computer. Today's article is about reverting to the original Windows skin, although why anyone would want to violate their computer in this way is beyond me. Now that I've been playing dress up with my computer for all of two weeks, the standard Windows style is tantamount to leaving my computer naked in a snowstorm, but hey, sometimes it has to be done...

Links to Cordelia Here are some of my top picks in the various categories. There are always so many good choices it's hard to narrow it down to just a few. What are your favorites? Include a screenshot! Here are some of mine:   Skins: Faberge by Pictoratus Synthek by danilloOc   Wallpaper: Dreamweb by teddybearcholla the eye by teffumi   Screensavers: This is a brand new category. Be sure and post your screensavers! GoldPlanet b...

Kurt von Behrmann wrote a very nice review  of Object Desktop. Check it out!

Which gallery items do you like the best? I find it difficult to choose among so much good work out there, but here are some of my current favorites. Which skins do you recommend? Which widgets do you love? Let us know!   Skins: Semiprecious by Pallet   Retro by essorant     Wallpaper: Portality by RPGuere   --Seraphim-- by Green Armani     BootSkins: Up Side Down by Wabmo ...

When you start up your computer it is known as "booting". Contrary to popular belief, it should have nothing to do with any physical kicking of the computer. No matter how angry you are you must learn to control your computer rage - but that is the topic of a different article.   The standard Boot Screen usually looks something like this (I'm running XP. Actual Boot screens may vary. Objects on desktop are closer than they appear):     BootSkin is one of the eas...

When I was a child my two brothers and my sister and I would fight over toys. And over the television. And over the last potato chip. And over who was looking at whom and with what level of animosity. In short, we fought over everything. We fought over who was sitting in whose area of the car seat or the couch to such an extent that it would turn physical, and we would press our butts together so hard that if I had had a piece of coal in my back pocket a shining diamond would later have falle...

Merriam-Webster online defines Obsession and Compulsion thusly:   Main Entry: ob·ses·sion Pronunciation: äb-'se-sh&n, &b- 1 : a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling; broadly : compelling motivation obsession with profits> 2 : something that causes an obsession   Main Entry: com·pul·sion Pronunciation: k&m-'p&l-sh&n 1 a : an act of compelling : the state of being ...

Today, class, we are going to talk about changing your Icons.   You know on your desktop there is a little thing that looks like a trash can, and you use it to delete files you don’t want, and sometimes files you later realize you needed quite badly? That trash can is a graphic representation  - or icon - of the program that deletes your files. Your “My Documents” folder is an icon. When you click on to open the Word program , you are clicking on an icon. Some icons ...

I explained what skinning was in my last article [ link ], but how does one go about skinning their desktop? If you skin your desktop how do you change it back? How do you download a skin? Where do you find skins? Do you need a taxidermists license to do this? What if you want to change your computer back?? What if your boss walks in while you are doing this?? Where's the beef?? What if my computer explodes??? Can I find any pink and purple skins with unicorns!? Will I lose all my data if I d...